Last night I smelled a smell that evoked a memory, as they often do |
A shade of triumph
A shade of pain
Blended between the two
A hospital visit drenched in sweat and neuropathy
The pathology of the nerves
Translation: a suffering i wish no one experiences
Im instantly transported,
While Holding this blanket up in the air as I had begun to unfurl it to cover me
and my soon to be resting body,
To all the years spending time in the jungles of Peru
Condensed into seconds of recognition towards a journey that still continues.
How did it start? A nerve disease inspiring an introspective look at where I was, literally frozen in a form to just spend time with myself, through all the suffering imaginable.
Five years later, slowly finding my way with diet, herbalism, and sacred plant medicine, I finally made my first journey South with my dear brother Joe and his love, Cynthia. It was in my first ceremonies with these aptly named master plants, that I felt the full recalibration of my nervous system begin to take place… a work that slowly unfolded over several years until I finally met the art-form of dieting…
“Dieta” or dieting, is taking a medicinal plant or tree (or really anything, even mountains and bodies of water) and prayerfully consuming them in a state of restriction. Restriction from what? From all the things we seem to have plenty of: salt, sugar, oil, spices, sex, alcohol, coffee and so on… with the purpose being to bring such simplicity to the senses so that we begin to become very sensitive, and very aware.
While limiting what was mentioned above, one simultaneously begins taking a particular medicinal plant which is tailored to them in one of two ways: in order to work on a specific ailment or, to learn the art of helping others. Obviously or not, these become one in the same over time.
This returning down to Peru year after year, leaving all of my life at home in exchange for a temporary visit to the jungle and the people who are now family, has been nothing short of arduous and exhilarating, slow and rewarding. And now, I see a sort of ripening of a fruit I’ve been called on to share the harvest of:
I extend an invitation to those interested in a 9 day dieta :
An immersive introduction to working with the Amazonian medicinal plant path.
We will be experiencing the sacred plant tradition under the guidance and tutelage of Don Luis and his wife, Doña Saray (Amazing interview I made with Saray some years back), both great grandparents. They live, like many do in the world, in a traditional farming community, planting their prepared lands full of cassava, banana, plantain, papaya, hot peppers, peach palm, aguaje, and an array of medicinal plants alongside them.
We will experience a temporary pause in our normal lives, one that can help us to reflect upon our unique positions and how best to move forward with whatever it is we are working with. From health of the body, spirit, and mind, and of course inextricably linked to our relationships to friends, family, neighbors and the world at large.
As has been shown to me and said many times by Don Luis, “Dieta helps you in whatever it is that you happen to do in your life… it makes you better at your job, better with your relationships…”
This bettering could be said to come from the very attention we allow ourselves to have towards our necessary processing of life’s events, sometimes being strong. It also comes from having a checkpoint “homebase” of what a regulated nervous system even feels like; something that some of us may have rarely experienced in this intense way of Western life. It also directly comes from forming a living relationship to the plants, both entheogenic and seemingly mundane, that truly assist us in our evolutionary path of becoming human-beings.
If you feel inspired for this adventure and have been feeling the call to explore this plant tradition, please reach out to me about available spaces and alignment with our work.
Email me @ Rememberplants at Gmail.com
Much love,
Ralph
rememberplants 